The Sixers travel across the country and not only do they not get a chance to try for a cigar at any of the midway games, they can't even get into the carnival as they're waylaid by the Trail Blazers, the other second worst team in the league, by 36 points, 149-113.

Six players in double figures, with a seventh coming close, wasn't nearly enough for Philadelphia. Add in an all too familiar tale at the bottom of the scoring column and the end result was another embarrassing loss. John Block topped the scoring list with 26 points, followed by Fred Carter with 21 and Kevin Loughery with 19. Leroy Ellis put up 14, with Freddie Boyd and Manny Leaks adding 10 each to round out the double figure scorers. Mike Price hit for 8 points, Dale Schlueter for 5, and in an oft told bottom of the scoring column story, Dave Sorenson and Hal Greer both went hunting for, and found, goose eggs.

Portland duplicated Philadelphia with six double digit scorers of their own, and a seventh coming close, but the final numbers were vastly different. Geoff Petrie led the Trail Blazers in scoring as he scorched the lackluster Philly defense for 40 points. Sidney Wicks was second in the scorebook as he netted 29, followed by Lloyd Neal with 25, Charlie Davis 15, Greg Smith 12, and Ollie Johnson 10 to complete the double digit list. Rick Adelman had 9, LaRue Martin 5, Larry Steele 3, and Terry Dischinger 1 to reach the 149 total.

Next Game:
1/6/73 @ Golden State. The Sixers are 0-1 vs the Warriors this season, losing by 3 points on the road in the game of November 16th.

Philadelphia travels south to Oakland and although the scoring difference is smaller, the end result is the same. The Warriors overcome an off night by Thurmond and Russell to defeat the Sixers by 14 points, 102-88.

The Sixers only used 7 players, with 4 of those reaching double digits and a 5th coming close, but in a refrain that has become Philadelphia's anthem this season, numbers 6 and 7 were simply taking up space. Fred Carter pumped in 32 points to lead the team by a wide margin. Leroy Ellis netted 18, John Block 16, and Hal Greer 13 to close out the double digit scorers. Dave Sorenson was a bucket away from joining that group as he put up 8 points. Manny Leaks with 1 point and Freddie Boyd with a goose egg only caused extra laundry to be done after the game.

Golden State had just 3 players in double figures but a couple of those hit for 20+ with the 3rd missing that number by a free throw. Rick Barry topped the scoring column with 25 points, followed closely by Jim Barnett who doubled his real life scoring average by notching 24. Jeff Mullins just missed getting 20 as he finished the game with 19 points. Nate Thurmond barely got half his real life average as he claimed 9, Joe Ellis totaled 8, and Cazzie Russell's 5 points were only a third of his actual scoring average. Ron Williams had 5, Bob Portman 4, Charles Johnson 2, and Walt Hazzard 1 to complete the Golden State scoring.

Next Game:
1/7/73 @ Seattle. The Sixers are 1-1 vs the SuperSonics this season, losing in Philadelphia on October 11th and winning in Seattle on November 17th.

There are a lot of unhappy people in Seattle, namely, fans, players, coaches, and owners. Additionally, there is a rumor floating around that after the game Spencer Haywood asked for his release so that he could go back to the ABA. Why all the unhappiness ? For the second time in three games this season the SuperSonics fall to the lowly Sixers, this time by 19 points, 108-89. Both of the losses have come in the state of Washington. Of little solace to the suffering Seattle fans is the knowledge that Philadelphia also won the real life game, albeit by a smaller margin, 3 points.

As in the previous game the Sixers used just 7 players. Also like the previous game the numbers at the top, and bottom, of the scoring column were the same, 32, and 0. For the second game in a row Fred Carter hit for 32 points to lead the team. John Block was next with 28, followed by Manny Leaks with 18, and Freddie Boyd with 14. Leroy Ellis just missed double digits as he totaled 9 points. Hal Greer rounded out the scoring by putting up 7. Dave Sorenson was this game's holder of the Philly goose's egg.

A forgettable game by the SuperSonics, especially considering that they only scored 89 points against the Sixers defense. Spencer Haywood led Seattle in scoring with 25. Three others hit for double figures, John Brisker with 16 points, Dick Snyder with 13, and Jim Fox with 12. Joby Wright netted 8 points, Butch Beard and "Downtown" Freddie Brown 5 each, Jim McDaniels 4, and Bud Stallworth 1 to complete the scoring. Lee Winfield and his 0 points completed the scorebook.

Next Game:
1/9/73 @ Chicago. The Sixers are 1-1 vs the Bulls this season, winning their season opener in the Windy City on October 10th, and losing in Philadelphia on December 8th.

actual result:
Philadelphia - 85
Seattle - 82

Philadelphia record:
actual (4-38)
replay (6-36)

BillS

Post subject:Posted: Oct 22, 2018 - 03:30 PM

Joined: Jun 29, 2012
Posts: 355

Status: Offline

Nice! Big game for Manny Leaks. Is that his season high?

FrankC

Post subject: Stay Power Posted: Oct 22, 2018 - 05:39 PM

Joined: Feb 28, 2010
Posts: 1934

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Jeff, You are to be commended for your stay power. Not many gamers could last through a dismal season like this. I tried to play the 1962 Mets season with APBA at one time and it was, to say the least grueling. I have to admit that reading your posts is a treat. I am rooting for Philly every game.

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject:Posted: Oct 23, 2018 - 02:01 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

Status: Offline

BillS wrote:

Nice! Big game for Manny Leaks. Is that his season high?

Thanks for following the replay. This was Manny's second highest scoring game of the season. He scored 22 points on October 13th against the Buffalo Braves at The Spectrum.

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject: Re: Stay Power Posted: Oct 23, 2018 - 02:17 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

Status: Offline

FrankC wrote:

Jeff, You are to be commended for your stay power. Not many gamers could last through a dismal season like this. I tried to play the 1962 Mets season with APBA at one time and it was, to say the least grueling. I have to admit that reading your posts is a treat. I am rooting for Philly every game.

Frank, thanks for following along. The SuperSonics had the fourth worst record in the 72-73 NBA season, so when they lose to the Sixers it's not really a shock like that opening game against the Bulls was. Philadelphia overcame a mountainous pregame deficit to beat Chicago in that one. That particular game just goes to show that Yogi was right, it ain't over till it's over. Although, the Sixers are trying very hard to disprove that with the blowout losses they've suffered so far.

I have a lot of fun with the writeups but I must admit that I get a lot of help from the Sixers because they give me a lot of material to work with.

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject:Posted: Oct 26, 2018 - 02:38 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

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Game 43

Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls
Chicago Stadium
January 9, 1973

The Sixers headed east to the Windy City looking to make it 2 out of 3 against Chicago like they had just done against Seattle. The Bulls had other ideas however and treated their guests like a china shop, winning by 30 points, 139-109.

Philadelphia had 5 players in double digits, including 2 with 25+, but they were no match for their hosts. Fred Carter led the scoring with 27 points, followed closely by John Block who had 26. Freddie Boyd netted 17, Manny Leaks 13, and Leroy Ellis 11 to complete the 5. Dale Schlueter hit for 8 points and Hal Greer for 7 to round out the scoring. Dave Sorenson is looking to claim sole ownership of the Philly goose as for the 3rd time in the last 4 games he has grabbed an egg from said goose.

Chicago got a contribution from everyone who took the floor and made the Philadelphia defense look like broken pieces of dinnerware. "Chet the Jet" topped the scoring column by putting up 28 points, while "Butterbean" was just a tick behind as he totaled 27. Four other Bulls claimed double figures as Clifford Ray had 18, "Stormin' Norman" 17, future long time NBA coach Jerry Sloan 14, and Garfield Heard 10. Former 76er Dennis Awtrey scored 8 points, Howard Porter tossed in 7, Jim King notched 6, and Bob Weiss finished with 4.

Next Game:
1/10/73 vs Los Angeles at The Spectrum. The Sixers are 0-2 vs the Lakers this season, losing in both Tinseltown, and the City of Brotherly Love.

actual result:
Philadelphia - 110
Chicago - 126

Philadelphia record:
actual (4-39)
replay (6-37)

BillS

Post subject:Posted: Oct 29, 2018 - 10:22 AM

Joined: Jun 29, 2012
Posts: 355

Status: Offline

And, just like that, the 76ers are back to form!!

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject:Posted: Oct 29, 2018 - 12:32 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

Status: Offline

BillS wrote:

And, just like that, the 76ers are back to form!!

You are very correct. The Sixers can only pretend for a short time to be an NBA caliber team.

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject:Posted: Nov 01, 2018 - 02:57 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

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Game 44

Los Angeles Lakers @ Philadelphia 76ers
The Spectrum
January 10, 1973

The Sixers head further east, to The Spectrum, and while it wasn't a 30 point loss, it might as well have been. The Lakers came calling and dismantled the hometown team by 29 points, 130-101.

Los Angeles had 7 players score 10+, with an 8th missing that mark by a free throw. "The Logo" topped the scoring column by collecting 24 points, with Gail Goodrich close behind as he put up 22. Jim McMillian and "The Big Dipper" notched 16 each, while future coaching legend Pat Riley totaled 15. Former 76er Bill Bridges hit for 14 points, with Keith Erickson claiming 12 to round out those with 10 or more. Travis Grant just missed joining that group as he hit for 9. Jim Price finished the game with 2 points, while Mel Counts, another former 76er, failed to find the basket against his old team.

Philadelphia had 9 players take the floor, got scoring contributions from 8 of them, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome LA. John Block led the Sixers in scoring by a wide margin as his 35 points were more than his next couple of teammates combined. Fred Carter with 16 and former Laker Leroy Ellis with 15 were the only other Sixers to make it to double digits. Dale Schlueter put up 9 points, Dave Sorenson gave up the egg by netting 8, with Manny Leaks also claiming 8. Freddie Boyd totaled 5 points as did John Trapp, another former Laker. Hal Greer finished the game in possession of the egg.

Next Game:
1/12/73 vs Cleveland in the Steel City. The Sixers are 0-2 vs the Cavaliers this season.

actual result:
Los Angeles - 120
Philadelphia - 96

Philadelphia record:
actual (4-40)
replay (6-38)

BillS

Post subject:Posted: Nov 01, 2018 - 04:30 PM

Joined: Jun 29, 2012
Posts: 355

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Wow! If Block had just his regular, average game, the score would have been really ugly!! Is that Block's season high?

Jeff Nicholson

Post subject:Posted: Nov 02, 2018 - 01:04 PM

Joined: Aug 21, 2014
Posts: 443

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BillS wrote:

Wow! If Block had just his regular, average game, the score would have been really ugly!! Is that Block's season high?

That is indeed Block's season high, as well as the team's individual high game for the season. Right behind Block is Fred Carter who scored 34 points on October 28 against Milwaukee.

Block only has a few games left with the Sixers. He gets traded on January 26 to the KC-Omaha Kings for Tom Van Arsdale and a draft pick.

The Sixers pulled off a double in the Steel City. They lost to the Cavaliers by 17 points, 99-82, making them 0-3 against the team from northeast Ohio. Additionally, the loss made them 0-3 in Pittsburgh this season, with previous losses coming at the hands of the Suns and Hawks.

Cleveland had 5 players register double digits in scoring, but none of them could crack the 20 point mark. Austin Carr led the way with 19, followed by Rick Roberson who put up 18. John Johnson had 16 points, Lenny Wilkens 15, and former 76er Bob Rule 11. Bingo Smith just missed double digits as he totaled 9 points, with Cornell Warner adding 6, Dwight Davis 4, and Barry Clemens 1. Jim Cleamons ended up at the bottom of the scorebook as he failed to tickle the twine.

Philadelphia got production from everyone who played, but the final product wasn't close to 99 points. Fred Carter with 21, John Block with 14, and Leroy Ellis with 12 were the only Sixers to hit double figures. Former Cavalier Dave Sorenson came close to making that group as he netted 9 points. Hal Greer was a bucket short of joining as he claimed 8. Freddie Boyd totaled 7 points, Manny Leaks 6, and Dale Schlueter 5.

Next Game:
1/13/73 vs Boston @ The Spectrum. The Sixers are 0-4 against the Celtics this season, getting blown out in the first 3 games, with a "respectable" 11 point loss coming in the 4th game.